Literacy – On Sarah's iPadhttps://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com
A Mum's guide to Apps, eBooks, and other mobile mediaTue, 20 Mar 2018 01:59:30 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngLiteracy – On Sarah's iPadhttps://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com
Boo Numbers by Kindermaticahttps://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/boo-numbers-by-kindermatica/
https://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/boo-numbers-by-kindermatica/#commentsMon, 26 Oct 2015 02:46:59 +0000http://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/?p=2813Recently released (just in time for Halloween) is this new educational app from Kindermatica that helps children learn to write their numbers.

The app is a great way to help children practice writing numbers to 10 in a fun way. Children write each number three times with guides to help them to find the starting point, and to stay inside the lines or on the path. With each turn, the prompts and supports are decreased. You can move through the numbers in series, or you can select specific numbers to practice.

Features

Languages: The app will run in English, Russian or Swedish.

Reporting: – Teachers and parents can view the results for each child. The app records two kinds of mistakes: when the child starts from the wrong point, and when they are out of line when writing the number. This information will help teachers guide the student to correcting their errors and perfecting their technique.

Individual student profiles: – you can add up to 30 student profiles so that you can track progress individually. Photos or avatars can be added from the device camera or from the camera roll.

Reward game: – Carve a jack-o-lantern by dragging shapes on to the pumpkin. This is a fun exercise in symmetry as each item is placed as a pair with central symmetry.

Individual Settings:

Fonts: Select from 4 fonts, including Zaner-Bloser (commonly used in the US), Sassoon, and fonts for Sweden and Russia.

Modes: you can select an easy or regular mode, and you can opt to repeat numbers.

Game Limit: You can turn the reward game off, or allow it to play for 30 sections, 1 minute, 3 minute or no limit.

Number of exercises before reward game: Choose from 3, 6, 9 or 12 exercises to be completed before the child can play the reward game.

Music, Sound effects and speech are amusing, but can be turned off if you wish through the settings button at the top left of the screen.

Safety: Kindermatica is a member of Know What’s Inside, a group of developers (formally known as Moms with Apps) who take child safety and security seriously, and who make sure parents have all the information they need to make good decisions about the apps they choose for their children. In this app, for instance, there are some external links, but these are all hidden behind a parent lock.

Graphics: the graphics are beautiful and the little spider who guides us through the activities is very cute.

See the app at work in this YouTube trailer:

Verdict

Although this has a great Halloween theme, people like me who don’t do Halloween will still find it handy for children who are just starting to write their numbers. ( I’m an Australian, and yes I know there are some Aussies who have started to do the whole trick or treating thing, but I’m not one). You can use it all year around. Teachers will love being able to tweak the app to suit individual needs, and also being able to see individual progress reports. I think Boo Numbers is a great activity that will compliment the handwriting activities done in early learning classrooms. If you like this app, you might also like to try Yum-Yum Letters, also by Kindermatica, which uses similar activities to help children learn to write letters.

]]>https://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/boo-numbers-by-kindermatica/feed/1Boo Numbers main screenonsarahsipadapp iconMystery Word Town by Artgig Appshttps://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/2015/05/21/mystery-word-town-by-artgig-apps/
Thu, 21 May 2015 04:45:52 +0000http://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/?p=2664Mystery Word Town is the latest app by Artgig Apps and is new in the iTunes Store today. The app is a spelling adventure where children play the detective tracking down members of the Huevos Rancheros Gang and recovering lost gold in a ghost town somewhere in the USA. Children enter and explore buildings, using their spelling skills as keys to enter areas.

Game Play

If you have either Mystery Math Townor Mystery Math Museum, you’ll be familiar with the game play. You collect letters in each room or area of the building you are exploring and use them to complete words. The goal is to find the required number of gold nuggets indicated by a little pouch in the top right corner, and to find the room with a wanted poster of one of the gang. Exits from each room could be doors, windows, trap doors, ladders or even just looking up or down. If you are unsure of where you can go, a little ghost floats in each room and you can drag it around to highlight exits. You can tap on the floating letters in each scene to either complete the word or add them to your tool belt. Letters you don’t use in one room might be handy in another. As the levels increase in difficulty you may have to look in different rooms to collect the letters you need. Once you have completed your goals you can move on to the next building.

Game Settings

Three Difficulty Levels – There are three word lists available within the app. The level 1spelling is about the level Mr 7 is bringing home with is weekly homework. The other two lists look to be middle-primary in level. Bearing in mind that Australia generally uses UK spelling, there was only one word in the app that we had issues with: favorite. In Australia and the UK, we spell this word as favourite. I find that when I highlight these things to my children, they have no problems.

Audio Hint Mode – there are two modes to choose from:

Spell Your Own Words – Players can use any letters to complete a partial word. There may be more than one option, and there are no audio hints. The correct word may not be in the word list but will be validated against an extensive dictionary.

Listen & Spell– The incomplete word is spoken aloud as it appears on the screen. Children can hear the word repeated by tapping the sound icon in the word bubble.

Individual Profiles – I love apps where you can set things up for each child in your family or class. Once you have created a profile, children can have a bit of fun creating an avatar by choosing hair, eyes/nose, mouth and skin tone (that can be a traditional tone, or any colour of the rainbow.) You can set the difficulty level for each child within their profile.

Things We Love

Some rooms have interactive portraits of characters and you can tap these to hear them talk. The portraits will say different things each time you tap them . The characters in the portraits might give out some clues as to what might be around the corner. The wanted posters are interactive too. I won’t give spoilers away, but Sting Bean proved to be a very interesting character.

The Artwork is excellent – With a name like Artgig, you would expect the art part of the app to be top notch, and it is. We love the mix of textures, photographs and drawings that make up the scenes.

The Town News displays the wanted posters of those villains you have already caught. Each of them has something further to day, and a fortune telling poster gives more hints about what might be coming up.

Built-in Success – If you get the wrong answer, you don’t end up with a big “Fail” or “You Lose” sign. No, you get to try again until you get it right with no penalties or public shaming.

Wish List

There are not many things I’d add to the app, but to be picky, here are a few:

Reporting – I’d like to be able to see how each child is doing in the app. Checking the number of attempts they make and the letters that they use in each attempt would give me an idea of any common errors they were making and would guide how I would help that child.

Lockable settings – It is possible for children to change their word lists and auto hint mode, making it easier or harder for themselves. That might be fine for some, but I’d like to be able to lock children in to a particular level, so some sort of parent lock on the settings would be welcome.

Customisable wordlists – by this I mean the ability to add in my own word lists. This is just a pipe dream as I’m not sure how the developers could do that, and the three spelling lists in the game are quite large as it is. Besides, I have several spelling apps where I can do that already, although none are as fun as this one.

Expert Opinion

Mystery Word Town is aimed at children aged 6- 12 and I think the team at Artgig Apps have nailed it, but I’m not in the target demographic. Luckily, I have a 7 y.o. handy who has had a great time putting the app through its paces. (He liked it so much, I had difficulty extracting him from the game long enough to give me an opinion.) Mr 7 says:

It’s fun. The characters were funny and I liked exploring the buildings. I found it hard to find the gold sometimes but I kept looking and I found it all in the end. The best thing about the game is solving the puzzles by choosing the letters to finish the words. I think my teachers should download it to their iPads at school.

Verdict

Artgig Apps have again come up with an app that is both entertaining and educational. I can see my children having lots of fun exploring those buildings while practicing their spelling. There is enough humour in the app to keep everyone, even parents, amused.
Publisher: Artgig Apps
Universal: Requires iOS 5.1 and above
Price: $3.79 (Aus)

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IMG_4187onsarahsipadmystery wt icon9 Lettershttps://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/2014/11/20/9-letters/
Thu, 20 Nov 2014 00:11:33 +0000http://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/?p=2470I am a big fan of word puzzles and usually have one or two on my iPad to do in those times where I’m doing that universal Mum thing: waiting for my children to finish school or whatever activity they are doing. I love word games and puzzles because they help keep my brain active, and my favourite are anagram games, particularly the 9 letter puzzles, so I was very excited to hear PKCLsoft was developing 9 Letters, and even more delighted when I was given a copy to review. PKCLsoft is an independent Australian developer and a member of MOMs with apps.

How It Works

9 Letters is exactly what the name suggests: a game with 9 letters that you use to make as many words as you can. The rules are simple:

Each letter can only be used once (although if the same letter appears more than once, you can use it as many times as it appears)

Words must be a minimum of 3 letters long.

Longer words score more points

In the top left of the screen is a pop out table with the total number of words you have found, plus a table indicating how many words of each length can be found. In the example below, for instance, I have found 14 of 19 three-letter words, 3 of 9 six-letter words, and neither of the single eight or nine letter words. You can tap on the table to hide or reveal it. A running score is kept as you play.

Options

There are several options to make the game easier, harder or more accessible, which can be turned on or off in settings. These include:

Target mode – the central letter must be used in every word (usually a standard rule in similar games but optional here). When target mode is on, the central letter is darkened.

Hint every ten words

Highlight valid words (a word appears green if it is valid)

automatic detection of ‘s’ endings (if you type a word and there is an available s to pluralise it, both words will be added to the list.)

apply time limit for each word

Sound effects and music can be turned on or off.

An alternative font is available

Display lower case letters

You can see how the game works in this YouTube video.

Apart from the free hints every 10 words, prompts occasionally appear to offer you the chance to buy a 7 letter word or a hint via your iTunes account. I haven’t bothered with these but enthusiasts may. Of course, your iTunes password is required to make a purchase, and you can prevent unauthorised in-App purchases (IAPs) but turning this option off in your device settings.

Things I love

The game is as fast or as slow as you want – If you turn the timer off, you can sit with a word as long as you like. Personally, I like the challenge of working against a timer, and I usually am playing during a quick break so that works better for me.

The huge variety of 9 letter words – I have several of these games and I enjoy them all, but for most I keep coming across the same letter combos all the time. I’ve played 9 Letters for nearly a fortnight at every available opportunity (because I love to be thorough when putting apps through their paces for reviews….. and because it is addictive!) and not once have I come across a repeated word.

New vocabulary – While I recognise most of the 9 letter word solutions, some of the words are unfamiliar to me. I’m enjoying learning new words such as empyreans and multiplet. I’m pleased to hear that a future update will allow you to get definitions of words. Lots of smaller words are unfamiliar, so if you put together what you think are nonsense words, sometimes you come up with a winner.

Handoff Feature – 9 Letters supports Handoff, Apple’s new continuity feature, so you can start a game on your iPhone but then transfer the same game to your iPad later. You can see how it work’s in PKCLsoft’s demo YouTube video below.

Wish List

Definitions – This one is already in the pipeline, and I can’t wait to be able to link quickly to definitions of words. I’m hoping this will not only apply to the larger words but some of the smaller words too.

Colour choices – The colour scheme is high contrast which is great, but I’d love the option to change it to my favourite colour – blue. Not a biggie, but it would be nice.

Difficulty options – I’d love to be able to make the game harder (or not) by having an option to have a 4-letter minimum word length. The 3-letter minimum is great, as most other games start at 4, but it would be fun. Also, perhaps the option to reject the plural s, so that book would count, but books wouldn’t, (unless the central letter was an s).

Verdict

I love this game and it has become my “go-to” game when I’m having a break. I’m enjoying the variety of words, the challenge level and learning new words. Being able to turn off the target letters and time limits will make the game a little more user-friendly for some who might like to play word games but find most a bit difficult. Scrabble and Boggle lovers will be sure to love it.

Secret Santa season is coming up and if you have a friend of family member who is in to word games, you could gift them a copy and I’m sure it would be much appreciated. 9 Letters is only in its first version and it is already wonderful, so I look forward to the future updates.
Publisher: pkclSoft
Price: $1.29 (Australia – 99 cents USA) until 26th November 2014, then $2.49.
iPad and iPhone (requires iOS 7.0 or later)

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]]>onsarahsipad9 Letters App icon9 Letters - pkclSoftLittle Lamb in Amsterdamhttps://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/2014/06/16/little-lamb-in-amsterdam/
Mon, 16 Jun 2014 01:10:04 +0000http://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/?p=2416Little Lamb in Amsterdam, by Joshua and Donna Wilson, is two stories in one: a simple story of a little lamb on her cycling adventures, and a fact book full of historical, geographical and cultural information about the Netherlands. Little Lamb has an adventurous spirit and sets off on a cycling tour of the Netherlands, finishing in Amsterdam. Along the way she sees different things including windmills, tulips and wild flowers, canals, clogs and more.

Each page is filled with a colourful, interactive illustration and a line or two of text telling the story. Tap the bottom of the screen to show extra information. Find out about the different things windmills grind when little Lamb cycles past them. If you ever wondered why the Netherlands teams wear orange, you will find that fact on the page where Little Lamb celebrates their National day. Extra information is sometimes revealed In the animations; we are treated to some works of Dutch masters such as Vermeer, Van Gogh and Rembrandt when Little Lamb visits the Museums and Galleries, and see boats passing under bridges on the canals. Sometimes Little Lamb is hidden, and finding her becomes a fun hide and seek activity.

On one or two occasions there are subtle hints to adults through the images and animations of a more, um, “mature” side to Amsterdam (such as meeting Mary outside the coffee shop and being treated to a 60’s style hazy animation) but I am confident children will miss the connection.

Features

Narration – available in both English and Dutch for both the story and the facts. The narration is clear and well-paced. I can only vouch for the English versions, but the developers have found native Dutch speakers to do the translations and narrations, so I’m sure these will be up to the high standard of the rest of the app.

Illustrations – I love the colourful mixed media style of Donna Wilson. Areas in most illustrations have been kept “uncluttered” so that the text can be displayed, and we had no problems reading the text where it was displayed over patterns. Traditional Dutch colours, images and patterns are included in some of the collage-style illustrations.

Interactive elements – the few interactive elements on each page don’t detract from the story and often support the text by adding meaning.

Maps and Historical information – The title page has links to some maps and a historical timeline.

Verdict

A sweet and entertaining story on its own, Little Lamb in Amsterdam has extra value with the factual information. It would be a great way of introducing this country to children. I hope the authors bring out similar books looking at other parts of the world.

]]>onsarahsipadlittlelambiconLittle Lamb in Amsterdam - Joshua WilsonJunior Storytellers: School Editionhttps://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/junior-storytellers-school-edition/
Wed, 28 May 2014 00:38:54 +0000http://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/?p=2376JuniorStorytellers puts your child in the director’s seat to create simple animated stories with narration, using a variety of settings, characters and props. It is a great way for children to learn about how to build a story while engaging in creative play. There are two versions of the app available. I am reviewing the School Edition, which includes all content with the one price. The free version has limited content, with more story theme packs available with in-app purchase.

The main screen of the app is separated into four main sections: Create Story, My Stories, Awards and Settings.

Create Story

There are two main story sections: Sandbox and Challenge.

Sandbox Mode – This section has two options: a learning mode and a create mode.

Learn to Play guides children through making a story. It explains how to choose scenes, and to add, pose and change characters and props, and uses items from the Jungle theme only. It is a great place to start, and might also be helpful for children who might otherwise get a bit overwhelmed with choice.

Create A Story gives children full access to the range of settings, characters and props. Children create a story one page at a time and can create stories of any length they choose.

Challenge Mode – This mode challenges children to create stories using a specific number of scenes. The first level is a single scene story and is a good place to start. Subsequent levels challenge children to create stories with several scenes. The first Level 1 has a single scene story, Level 3 has stories of 5 scenes, and Level 5 has stories with 9 scenes. The challenge mode starts with a quick video modelling the creation and recording of a story. After you have seen it a few times, it gets a bit tired, but you can tap on the big red cross in the top corner to turn it off. You can also turn the tutorial off using the app settings.

Creating your Stories

No matter the mode you choose to create your story, the steps are the same: Select a setting, select characters and props, record your story (or take a screen shot) then add more scenes or finish your story.

Settings – The first step of making your story is to select a scene. There are lots of different locations to set your stories, such as the jungle, space, castle, pirate ship, homes and the Australian Outback. Each scene has about three different backgrounds, so stories can “move about.”

Select characters and props – After you pick a setting, it is time to place characters and props. There are lots of different characters and props to choose from and any character or prop can be used in any scene, but to make it a little easier to match these items to their scenes, the selection menu is colour coded. Pirate items have a blue background, outback items have gold, beach items have yellow, and so on. (Of course, there is nothing to stop active imaginations sending an emu on a Pirate voyage to outer space.) You can drag unwanted items to the bin. Characters are not static: they will change direction as you move them; use two fingers to resize or rotate them; tap limbs to move them and change the character’s pose; tap a character’s head to select an emotion (my favourite feature!) One great feature is the ability to create your own characters, choosing hair, skin tone, and clothing colours.

Record your story – Once the scene has been set up, children are prompted to record their story. There is a quick countdown and then children narrate their story while dragging the characters and props around the screen, changing character poses and facial expressions. It is kind of like a virtual puppet theatre. At the end of the recording, you can either keep or re-record.

Single or Multiple Page stories – You can create a single page story with the steps above, or repeat them for each page of a multiple story.

My Stories – All stories are available to read and reread. You can save unfinished stories to complete later, edit existing stories, or share your stories online as

Sharing stories online – the app’s settings allow adults to create an account so that stories can be shared online. Adults need to register for free to use this feature. I suggest using an anonymous user name and double-checking your child’s work to make sure no identification is given away accidentally (e.g. real names and locations in narration) but I can’t see any real security concerns with this. Stories shared this way can be viewed by family and friends without them needing the app to view it.

This YouTube video shows the app in action.

Other Features

Awards – Children receive virtual trophies for completing stories at the different challenge levels, and for each theme pack they use. My only wish here is that my children could log into the app individually as they love to earn their own trophies.

App Settings – These are limited to turning Voice Prompts and tutorials on or off, and logging into the Junior Storytellers account to upload stories to their server. The one option I wanted to be there, turning the theme music off from the main pages, wasn’t there.

Moving to writing

This app has no writing involved. Apart from giving titles to their apps, there are no places to write and even the instructions are given with recording and animation. That being said, this app is a great way to get children started with writing. It gets them thinking about the writing process: setting up a scene, choosing characters and props, and making up the basics of a story. The different challenge modes help formulate the idea that a story has a beginning, a middle and an end. Once children have created their stories in this app, you can use screen shots of each scene in a book creation app or word processor.

I can also see Junior Storytellers being valuable for us with children with special needs. It could be used to create some social stories, and to model and practice conversations.

Wish List

Just a few more features in the Avatar creation – At present you can change hair colour and style, skin tone, and the shirt and shorts in terms of colour, but my children would love more clothing options, plus a few more facial options, including changing eye colour and shape, and nose shape. At present there are two faces to choose from, but we’d love to have all the different face types used in the app’s characters, as they are inclusive of different ethnicities. Options for glasses would go down well too and it would be nice to see some mobility aids for characters such as wheelchairs.

Option to control music volume – Currently you can’t switch the music off from the main screens. As fun as it is (I really do like it), it might not be the ideal thing for a classroom and I’m getting to the stage where I’m going slightly mad when the kids take too long to make their selections. Turning off the sound from the iPad is not an option as we need this to listen to the stories we have narrated.

Verdict

I love this app. It has everything you need to help children create amazing stories. I can see it being a great favourite with primary-aged children, but also a big winner with children with special needs or learning difficulties. For the reluctant writer, or those with literacy difficulties, Junior Storytellers can help them achieve some success with story making while encouraging their imaginations to take flight. If you would like to try this app before you buy, they have a free version, with extra theme packs available via in-app purchase. My tip is to try it out then buy the full version that is all-inclusive at a very reasonable price. You can also see an overview of the app and some stories created with it on the Junior Storytellers website.

Win a Free Copy

If you would like to win a copy of this wonderful app, The Appy Ladies and The Project Factory are running aa Rafflecopter giveaway
that finishes on June 6th June 2014.

Details

]]>onsarahsipadJunior Storytellers app iconIMG_2275IMG_2267Little Lost Notehttps://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/2014/04/11/little-lost-note/
Fri, 11 Apr 2014 00:12:53 +0000http://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/?p=2340Little Lost Note is the story of, well, a little lost note. The note wanders through the story looking for the instrument it belongs to, encountering a piano, guitar, trumpet and drums throughout the story. We get to explore the sounds made by these instruments until the Little Lost Note finally finds the way home to her right instrument.

Features

Interactive elements – The major interactive elements occur when the Little Lost Note meets the different instruments and you get to play them. The piano is similar to those piano simulation apps you may have seen, and you can tap a couple of notes at a time to play chords. We had fun strumming the guitar and even more fun when we found we could tap the fret markings and change the notes. The trumpet was a little trickier, until we found that you had to hold down the keys and tap the mouthpiece at the same time. It was interesting to find that each combination of keys on the trumpet can produce both a high and low sound. You can skip straight to the instruments via buttons on the front page of the app.

Other Interactive Elements – Each page features some fun interactive elements, some of which repeat on other pages. Tap on a pile of dirt and Mole may appear (or disappear), birds might sing etc.

Narration – The narration is clear and well – for a quiet, calm story. We love the British accent. You can turn narration off on the main page. We couldn’t find any way of making the story repeat, except by flipping the page back and forth.

Highlighted Text – The text highlights as it is read, which is very supportive of emergent readers.

Nighttime Mode – If you tap on the ZZzzz (in the top left of each page) to activate a special mode for calm, quiet, bedtime reading. The app dims to a level that makes a comfortable read in a darkened bedroom.

Background Music – The background music is delightful, and you can listen for the different instruments that appear in the story.

Illustrations – I love the original, colourful illustrations that are not too bright for a calm, bedtime story. There is a lot of clear space left for the text to display without it being obscured by different elements on the page.

Using the App

Our order at the cafe was going to take 15 minutes: nothing for me, but an age for Mr 2. A good story was on order, so Mr 2 snuggled up beside, we opened my iPad case, and we opened Little Lost Note. Ahhhhh – Peace and happiness until the food arrived. We had a lovely time exploring the story together, and now we share the story often. Mr 2 is very taken with the story itself, but particularly loves playing the instruments. Every time we get to the piano section, he gets me to play “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and sings along.

See the app in action in this YouTube trailer.

Wish List

Interactive Text Elements – I’d love to be able to tap words and hear them spoken aloud. This would be great for those who are trying to read independently, but who have struggles with the odd word. It would also be useful to have a way of repeating the narration on each page.

Verdict

Little Lost Note is a lovely, gentle story that is great for some quiet reading time. It is also a great introduction to different instruments, and children will enjoy “playing” these instruments and experimenting with the sounds they make. Even without the Nighttime mode activated, it is a gentle, calming story that my toddler loves and it is one I’ll be keeping on my iPad for those times when my toddler is a little overwhelmed, over-stimulated, and in need of a quiet, calm story.

]]>onsarahsipadlostnoteSticker Play: Knights, Dragons and Castles by Jump Apphttps://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/sticker-play-knights-dragons-and-castles-by-jump-app/
Thu, 03 Apr 2014 03:12:50 +0000http://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/?p=2333Sticker Play: Knights, Dragons and Castles is Jump App’s most recent addition to their collection of educational apps. Like their other apps, Knights, Dragons and Castles is a creative play app where children take charge and direct the action in a simple and fun virtual environment. If you would like to win a copy of this app, please see the link at the end of this post.

Features

5 different scenes – Scenes include castle interiors and exteriors, and landscapes. Scroll left or right to move about each scene.

Characters – There are knights and soldiers in all sorts of poses and equipped with all manner of medieval armor and weaponry, a king and queen and assorted other castle folk. Each character has an identical twin in a different colourway so that you end up with two sides; The green knights and the red/yellow knights. Most have associated sound effects and small animations.

Animals – Dragons in two poses (again in green or red colour ways), a griffin and a few dogs are available. There are a few horses with mounted knights, and one pulling a wagon.

Props – A number of props help set the scene, including medieval war engines (battering ram and catapult), assorted tents, flags, and supplies for troops. There is even a sword ready to be pulled out of the stone by a future king.

Sound – most of the scenes are outdoors (or partially outdoors) and feature sounds from nature. The castle interior scene features background sounds that such as footsteps, clanking and creaking, low murmurs, and other sounds that add to the atmosphere. Sound effects can be toggled on or off using the simple controls on the screen. For a quiet experience, adults can turn all sound effects and background sounds off using the parent controls (accessible from the main screen.

Parent controls – Parents can control sound, screenshots (handy if you have limited space on your device) and the Jump App more apps banner. I love that the link to the AppStore (for ratings and reviews) is hidden from children. Jump App has a presence on all major forms of social media, but they don’t have direct links that children can access. Instead, all addresses are hidden in the parent section. Personally, I believe this should be a standard practice in educational apps and I’m sorry more developers don’t follow their lead.

Using the App

The app is easy and intuitive to use, with a simple control bar that can appear and disappear at your command. Select one of the five scenes on the map. At the top of the screen you will see a variety of character stickers, and you can swipe back and forth to find more stickers. The sticker menu can be hidden at any time. After you place your stickers on the scene, you can move them around, resize them, and reorient them. All of the characters and some of the props have associated sound effects and animations: dragons breathe fire, knights brandish their weapons, and archers let their arrows fly. When you leave a scene, all stickers are saved in position so that you can return later and pick up from where you left off. Simple controls allow you to clear a scene quickly to start again, and to take screenshots of your efforts.

See the app in action in this YouTube trailer from Jump App:

Educational Value

At face value, Sticker Play: Knights, Dragons and Castles is a nice creativity app where children can play as they move characters around the scene. I believe the real value of the app is in its opportunities for language and literacy development. A lot of discussion can take place while children are “playing” in the scenes, and the variety of medieval props and characters means there is a lot of opportunity for vocabulary development. Children who have difficulty with writing activities may find it easier to create a story as a series of scenes first. You can take screenshots of each scene at any time and then import them into a storybook writing app or a word processing document. This certainly beats looking at a blank piece of paper and struggling to find ideas.

Although this app is aimed at children aged 5-9, I can see it being of use to older children with special needs. The subject matter is historical (with a bit of fantasy tossed in) and interesting, and the stickers and scenes are not too childish for older students. It might even be supportive of students with learning difficulties or special needs in the Year 8 History curriculum where they look at medieval Europe (Australian National Curriculum).

Wish List

Sticker categories – There are a lot of stickers in this app, which is great, but my younger children had trouble finding the ones they wanted. It would be easier to have categories of stickers, such as vehicles, war engines, animals, camp, etc, although the downside of this would be that it may take up more space on the screen.

More female characters – There is only one female character (although in two colourways) and her only action is to sigh. It is a bit depressing. I know women had a tough time of it in an era where their lives were pretty much dictated by their status from birth, but surely there were a few more working around the castles. As we have fantasy elements such as the dragons and griffin, it would be good to see some of the wizards and witches from the Camelot tales.

Verdict

Sticker Play: Knights, Dragons and Castles is a great creative play app aimed at children aged 5-9, and with lots of scope for language and literacy activities. The subject matter might be appealing to older children too. I hope they bring out similar sticker book apps with different themes. My thanks to Jump App for the opportunity to review this app.

Normally I wouldn’t recommend a story where the hero was a sneaky, shadowy thief, but the UnStealer is not your ordinary villain. Yes, the UnStealer is a sneaky thief who creeps in shadows and looks a bit scary in the black hat and cape, but you can’t help love a character who turns unhappy into happy, unhelpful into helpful and uninspired to, well, you get the idea.

Story

These Uns were changed by tapping words on the page.

The opening pages set the scene by introducing the UnStealer and his favourite “collectables.” Interactive elements allow children to alter the appearance of the Uns to match the text, e.g. Tapping on the words bold, italic or underlined will change an Un to that style.
Once we have been warned of the UnStealer and his shocking exploits, we move on to some case studies. An unfunny, unhappy clown at a sad excuse for a birthday party has his mojo retuned and saves the party after the UnStealer strikes. In similar stories we see what happens to an unconfident lass, and later an unfriendly dog. Spoiler alert: the UnStealer turns out to be a pretty decent chap after all.

The story, by Joshua A Wilson, is written in rhyming verse with a natural rhythm that is enjoyable and also supportive of young readers. The underlying message of turning negatives into positives is one that teachers, parents, counsellors and others will appreciate.

Other Features

Illustrations – Donna Wilson seems to use a variety of techniques and collages them together to create colourful illustrations with wonderful detail. I appreciate the uncluttered spaces that allow text to be clearly displayed.

Interactive elements – All of the interactive elements support the text and add meaning to the story. There are only a few on each page so children won’t be distracted from the story. I particularly like the opening pages where children can click on some words to see an animation that defines that word. It would have been wonderful to see this feature used more throughout the story. Mr 9 discovered that tapping on some elements multiple times will trigger a different animation each time that help tell the story.

Narration – The narration has a strong Northern American accent, but not so strong that my Aussie kids had any trouble with it. It is well-paced and expressive, and we found it easy to listen to and follow. Unlike other books where the narration begins automatically, in this app it will only begin when you tap the first word on the page. I really like this feature as it gives us a chance to explore the illustrations and talk about the story before reading, helping cue children into unfamiliar words they may encounter. It also gives my more independent readers the opportunity to read by themselves, having the narration handy if they need it. You can easily repeat the text if you miss something.

Music and sound – the funky “Spy” music plays only on the title page. The other sounds relate to the interactive elements and play for a very short time. There are no sound controls within the app, but these are very easily managed with the controls on your iPad.

Wish List

Overall, the app is great, but there are a couple of little things I’d love to see in a future update:

More interactive text elements: The first two pages of the book did this really well, and I’d love to see it used more throughout the story. To be able to tap on a word or phrase and see an animation or hear a sound that further illustrates that concept could be very helpful to some. The interactive elements already do a lot of this, so it would be great to connect them to some of the words in the story.

Options for each word or sentence to be read when tapped: Some readers will be able to read the book independently, but may get stuck on the odd word. Being able to tap that word, or a sentence, could help scaffold them through their reading experience.

Highlighted text could also help children follow words during the narration.

Expert Opinion from Mr 9

I think the story is fun and surprising, and would be a fun story for 5 to 10 year olds. I love the illustrations and the backgrounds. I really love how you get to change things by tapping items like tapping the clown and he squirts prune juice out of his squirty gun. If you tap it again, the stain gets bigger and bigger. The best part of the book was when the dog played piano (you have to keep tapping to see that!) I would change the music because it is too jazzy. (Mum: I beg to differ on that point!) If the UnStealer had all the Uns, wouldn’t he be miserable? He’d be Unhappy.

To see the app in action, check out the YouTube trailer below:

Verdict

I love a good story with a positive message, and I can see The UnStealer being very popular with schools and families. As a story it is engaging and uplifting, and as an app it is supportive to young readers. I can’t wait to see more from the developers. Its recent award of a Kirkus Star is well-deserved. Already, the UnStealer has invaded my house, with my children having fun playing with un words. I just wish he would tackle the untidy rooms, unmade beds and unfinished homework. If you would like to win this app, check out the giveaway running on The Appy Ladies website until March 19th, 2014.

]]>onsarahsipadThese Uns were changed by tapping words on the page.Spell with Pip – Oxford University Presshttps://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/2014/01/17/spell-with-pip-oxford-university-press/
Fri, 17 Jan 2014 02:42:55 +0000http://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/?p=2239Most of the spelling apps I own have the same activity: a spelling test following the listen, write, check pattern. Spell with Pip is a different and is aimed at emergent spellers. Children fly Pip the Parrot around to collect the letters to spell each word. The target word is always visible at the top of the screen. On early levels, only the letters needed appear, but as children progress through levels, extra letters appear. Note: This review was originally published on The Appy Ladies website. For details on how to win a copy of the app, see the note at the end of this post. (Competition closes 27th Feb, 2014).

Pip looks for the correct letters. At this level, there are no confusing extras

For each word, Pip appears, the letters appear at random positions on the screen, and then the letters start to move about the screen. Pip has to collect each letter in the correct order or she loses a feather. 3 misses and you are out. You need to spell a number of words correctly before the time runs out, with stars awarded depending on how quickly you complete the task. The maximum time allowed for each level is 60 seconds, and the number of words to be collected increases as you progress through the game. Collected words are added to My Dictionary. Words in the dictionary will appear with their definition and sometimes an illustration. A button allows children to hear the word, but unfortunately the definition is not spoken.

A few levels up, we encounter some extra letters.

Strong points

I like how, in this game, children are practicing the spelling patterns. When my children were playing the game, most of the time they would read the target word aloud and then say each letter as they were looking for it. “Leader: l, e, a, d, e, r.” I believe this kind of exercise reinforces the spelling patterns and will help them to remember the words.

The graphics are lovely, with Pip flying around a variety of environments including the desert, city and arctic. They are not too “cute” to make them age-inappropriate for older children with special needs.

The sound effects and background music are not too distracting for my children, but they can be turned off.

Profiles can be set up for different users, making it very user-friendly for classrooms or families with more than one child using the app.

This is one spelling app that would be suitable for children with a hearing impairment as it is completely accessible without sound. (Most spelling apps require the child to hear the word aloud before typing it.)

Issues

There are times when children can be penalised even though it really isn’t their fault, resulting in a lot of frustration.

When letters first appear for a word, sometimes they appear touching Pip. If it is the wrong letter, the child is automatically penalised. If it is the first letter of the word, the child does not always realise that this letter has already been “found,” resulting in another penalty for touching an incorrect letter. (This problem will be fixed in the next update)

It is also very easy to touch incorrect letters by mistake, particularly for long words where there are lots of letters moving about. It was a problem for me, so I can only imagine the issue those with physical coordination issues would have.

Note: These issues are to be addressed with in the next update to Spell with Pip.

Wish list

I’d like an option to change the sensitivity when if comes to hitting incorrect letters, or at least be able to grant a few more lives to help level the playing field for the less-coordinated (I’m putting my hand up here!)

I’d also like to see the app changed so that each screen begins with Pip in a “neutral zone” where no letters appear.

It would be valuable for emergent readers to hear the definition of the words they have collected when using the Dictionary.

NOTE: A little bird (Pip, maybe?) tells me that the next version of Spell with Pip will have some of these ideas added. I can’t wait!!!

Verdict

This is a great game for learning to spell common words, and the dictionary element gives added value. Although some children may find the ease of “losing lives” frustrating, many will enjoy the challenge. It is great to see a spelling game with something different to offer.

If you would like to win a copy of Spell with Pip, enter the free competition on The Appy Ladies website. It finishes on 27th February, 2014.

]]>onsarahsipadPip looks for the correct letters. At this level, there are no confusing extras.A few levels up, we encounter some extra letters.Babar and Badou’s Musical Marching Bandhttps://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/2013/12/04/babar-and-badous-musical-marching-band/
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 03:03:56 +0000http://onsarahsipad.wordpress.com/?p=2203Tales of Babar the Elephant and his adventures were favourites of mine as a child, however the characters have evolved, and now my children enjoy watching the adventures of Babar’s grandson, Badou, as an animated series on television. Cupcake Digital have brought other animated stories to the iPad in ebook form, and now it is Badou’s turn in Babar and Badou’s Musical Marching Band.

The Story

In the story, everyone in the palace is getting ready to greet The Lord of the Rhinos and his wife. Ambassador Crocodylus is jealous of the attention (that he never received!) and plans to sabotage the event by getting his musically-challenged nephews to play at the reception, hoping that the music will be so terrible, the Rhinos will be insulted. Badou uses cleverness and kindness to turn the situation around with a delightful outcome for all….except for Crocodylus!

Supportive reading features

Read to Me– Narration automatically commences as each page is turned. Children can tap on interactive elements around the screen during or after the narration. Sparkles indicate interactive elements.

Read and Play– There is no narration, although children can tap individual words to hear them spoken. Interactive elements are all accessible.

Quiet Reading – there are no interactive elements or narration, and children read quietly at their own pace.

Words spoken as tapped – independent readers who might struggle with the odd word can tap any word to hear it spoken aloud. This can also be handy for making “find a word” games, such as finding sight words or words that have a particular phonic element.

Highlighted text – text is highlighted as it is read by the narrator in Read to Me mode. This helps emergent readers to track the words as they are spoken. Individual words are highlighted as tapped in both Read to Me and Read and Play modes.

Interactive Features – There are enough interactive features to keep children entertained, but not enough to overwhelm them. Exploring the interactive elements can provide useful discussion opportunities and can help provide children with background concepts that can add to the story experience.

Extra activities

The entertaining story and the care taken with the features mentioned above would make this a wonderful app, but Cupcake Digital have put some extras into the app, and really deliver value for money .

In the Create section you will find three activities for music and art:

Sing Along – a karaoke-style rendition of the series theme song, complete with the animation.

Coloring – colour in different scenes using a variety of painting tools. I’d be impressed with this activity even if it was an app by itself as it ticks most of the boxes for what I want in a drawing and painting app. I’m impressed with the variety of drawing tools and stickers, and I love that the lines are always “stick.” In addition to the different colouring pages,there is a blank page where children can create their own original artwork.

Music Maker – tap the different parts of the character’s “One man Band” outfit to make your own music

The Play section also has three activities for literacy, numeracy and observation

Alphabet Derby – help Badou steer his airship up, down, forward and backwards to collect each alphabet letter as it floats past. Avoid obstacles such as kites and balloons. This is the perfect game for little children as there are no penalties for mistakes: obstacles are biped out of the way, and missed letters simply return to the screen for another try. As each letter is collected, it is named and highlighted. It is refreshing to find a game that doesn’t stop once you’ve made three errors. The Northern American pronunciation of “zee” is used but we are used to working around that, although it would be nice to have a “zed” option.

Go Bananas – help Badou catch the bananas as they fall from the tree, but try to avoid the snakes. This works similarly to the alphabet activity, except in this case Badou is counting bananas to 20. Again, there are no penalties for missed bananas, or catching snakes. Sometimes, when bananas don’t quite make it into the basket, they might bounce, giving a second chance to catch them.

Badou’s Treasure hunt.

Treasure Hunt – this is a simple hidden object game where children are asked to find 5 objects, one at a time. The prompt is given verbally, written and with a picture. The objects are fairly easy to find I. The scene, but if the child is having difficulty sparkles appear over the missing item to help them find it. My toddler (2 years old) was very impressed that each answer results in a big star appearing in the screen (he is into stars in a big way right now.) There are no penalties for tapping incorrect items, and no time penalties either.

The YouTube trailer below gives a good overview of the app, but doesn’t highlight the interactive elements in the illustrations, or the variety of drawing and painting options. Basically, it looks great, but the app is even better in reality.

Parent options

There are some external links to websites, email and social media in the app, but they are hidden from the child. In addition, Cupcake Digital have extra educational worksheets related to the story that you can download for free from their website.

Verdict

With an entertaining story, supportive features for emergent readers, and some fun activities, what is there not to love about this app? If you are looking for some good stories to load on your iPad for some holiday car trips, or if you would like to gift an app to a child for a birthday or Christmas, this one would be an excellent choice. You might like to check the other Cupcake Digital stories available on iTunes. Thanks to Cupcake Digital for giving me the opportunity to review one of their great apps.